Dyslexia
by ShadowPalace
Summary: It's hard to be young, especially when you're Percy Jackson, a child who is dyslexic and has ADHD. The story of when Percy found out that he is dyslexic.


Percy sat in the backseat of his mom's car, having a battle with the seatbelt restraining him, and unfortunately loosing badly. Being contained was never something Percy could stand, let alone by the stupid thing called a seatbelt.

"It isn't fair." Percy grumbled more to himself than to his mom, who was steering the car through the congested New York City streets.

"I know it's not sweetie, but it's just something we're going to have to get through together." His mom said. Her shoulders got stiff as she said this, like they did whenever she was worried about something or rather.

"Together? You're not _dyslexic._" Percy said, emphasizing the word 'dyslexic' like it was the worst, most disgusting disease in the world.

To him though, it was the _worst_ thing in the world. It made him look stupid in class when they did reading aloud and he skipped over words like 'is' and 'are', resulting in the sentence making no sense, his class laughing at his errors, and him feeling completely humiliated.

"We'll get through this, don't worry Percy. Everything will be all right." His mother assured, although it almost seemed like she was reassuring herself just as much as Percy.

"It's all _his _fault." Percy complained, starting up his fight with the seatbelt once again.

"Don't say that, Percy." His mom said, shifting her eyes from the traffic to the mirror where she watched Percy attempt to toss the seatbelt aside.

"But it's true Mom!" Percy argued, "I mean, you don't have dyslexia, so who else could I have gotten it from?" Percy finally gave up with the seatbelt, and focused his attention to his mother who looked as stiff as cardboard.

His mother sighed; she didn't like discussing Percy's father with him. It not only brought back too many painful memories of heartbreak, but it was near to impossible to talk about him without managing to give something away. Percy was too young to know the truth about who he was.

"What type of man is he to leave when I have dyslexia and ADHD? Why'd he have to die?" Percy asked. Even though he sometimes knew it was wrong, he enjoyed taking out all his problems on his father. Some part of him never got over the fact that he just left him and his mom alone in the world with nothing but each other.

"Percy, he couldn't choose whether to die or not, I've told you that before, and I don't want you to bring this up again." His mom said, a bit more aggravated with the world than her son, but often ended up dumping her anguish on him.

"But-" Percy said, only to be cut off again.

"No. This is final." His mother said sharply, alerting Percy not to try again.

"What do I tell other kids in my class?" Percy asked, he wasn't sure if he should tell kids in his class that he had learning problems, they might judge him if they found out.

"It's up to you, Percy. You can tell them whatever you want. If you want to tell them, go ahead. The friends that don't judge you will be your true ones." His mother said wisely, but Percy put it off as another one of her annoying sayings.

Percy thought about it for a few minutes. Telling people he was dyslexic had its advantages and disadvantages, and he weighed the options as best as he could. He decided that if the time felt right, he would tell. He would probably be kicked out of this school at some point anyway, so why care about it all that much?

"So, guess what I'm making for you when we get home!" His mom said, brightening the mood as best as she could.

"I don't know, cookies?" Percy said hopefully, his mother's cookies were always the best, and made their house smell like what he imagined a grandparent's house would smell like.

Both of his mom's parents had passed away way before Percy was born, and since he never met his dad. The result was he never had grandparents to spoil him, pinch his cheeks, and bake cookies like the rest of his friends did.

"Close." His mother said. He could tell she was smiling by the cheery tone in her voice.

"What then?" Percy asked, now curious.

"Blue cookies." His mother said as they pulled into the parking garage near their apartment where they stored the car.

"That's what I meant!" Percy said, a small smile emerging on his face.

"I know, but I love doing that!" She opened the car door and helped Percy out of the car. She grabbed his hand and together they walked inside of their apartment.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated! **

**-ShadowPalace **


End file.
